The Neglected Wife's Triumph

e air, even in the small, hidden apartmen

ye

chef with paused dreams, and A

it was to

werful. Shipping, politics, a n

a small, old business rivalry with a Vance ancestor. A

a secret.

s stepmother, his father'

like a perfect, col

Vance mansion, a place I'

e poisoned honey, when sh

small, cruel smile on her lip

eart pounding. H

ensitive. He n

nd me, like a p

e months to make Ethan acknowledge you

eath

eyes glittering, "then perhaps you'

anaged to ask, my vo

f me, her smile widening.

rce papers. "Already drafted. A di

ay our marriage was re

as like ice. S

This is how it is. Do y

or Ethan, made me stupid. I

re, right there. I agr

sed me, the house f

han, to understand how

assie by his side. She was

stress, but his face re

calm. "Cassie has been explaining a f

d me. He didn't

g with her, or at le

arted to solidify

rce papers still in her hand

our understanding, A

vy, a symbol of my

to Ethan, a triumph

nce, and I, by holding those

deal echoed in

papers, my mi

ered the first

od festival. I had a boo

t old-money polish. He tasted my sh

e me feel like the on

ll h

cations. His fam

heart. The one who married his mu

ad, and Cassie was the

ked at Ethan, weren't grie

led with something else. Something old, and not quite

secret marriage, i

istant, emotional

," he'd say. "For your sake

, intimate dinner for our six-month ann

ell his closest fri

ere on hold. My life was

wrist. Cassie had influenced his father to buy it for Ethan. It felt like

lenge hanging over me,

disastrous meeting, I tr

nce said he liked. I ma

partment late. He bar

lia," he said, his voice coo

uote from the future Cassie would orc

s the Vance family represented, th

an I had twelv

dread wash

l. This was about Ethan. His weakness. H

ven me felt less like an opportunity an

y for self-libera

d down. I had to

for him, for

anding on a battlefield, disarmed, wi

eat, yes, but I twisted it into a grim det